Using Slug Pellets Effectively

The more slugs ravaged my precious seedlings, the more liberally I scattered the slug pellets. More is better, right? “I’ll get the little bugg blighters!”, I fumed. Other gardeners resort to stacking them into little heaps and mounds around their most treasured plants. However, these ways are all futile because a concentration of metaldehyde actually repels slugs.

So you can see, it isn’t necessary to cover every single square inch of soil (as in the photos on the right), and for the most effective results I’d suggest you stick to the instructions and apply the pellets thinly on the ground. One every 10cm (4”) is more than adequate. More will simply repel the slugs leaving them free to munch on the next plant, while giving any passing wildlife a more concentrated and potentially fatal dose.

When best to use slug pellets

Metaldehyde pellets are now more water resistant, so a warm wet evening when slug activity is high is a good time to scatter a few around slug susceptible plants. The resulting carnage should be collected next morning to prevent other animals from eating the poisoned remains.

...and how

As I mentioned above, one pellet every 10cm or so will suffice. Place a few in those dark damp refuges where slugs love to shelter during the day, such as lawn and path edges and herbaceous borders.

In the vegetable plot, don’t scatter them wildly because some will lodge in the plants and contaminate the food. Use netting or pea-sticks on more open areas to keep birds and hedgehogs away from the pellets.

Why not try making a slug trap by placing a few pellets under a slightly raised stone. Slugs love to shelter in these places, and it keeps the pellets away from birds and animals.

Other metaldehyde products

Here are some other metaldehyde based products you might like to try out in your battle against slugs:

• Metaldehyde Spray – Use this on and around non-food plants. Because it’s a contact poison, the slug gets a dose as it crawls around. Its much shorter active life makes it important to choose the best time to use it – for example, a mild damp evening. Because there are no poison pellets lying on the ground, metaldehyde spray poses a much lower risk to wildlife.
• Metaldehyde Tape – This is a paper tape impregnated with metaldehyde and other ingredients that make it tasty to slugs. Lay the tape in strips alongside rows of crops, or use it to encircle your cherished plants.
• Metaldehyde Pads – These work in a similar way to tape. Place one or two in cracks and crevices in walls and rockeries. Bury a few with your seed potatoes to offer long lasting protection against the burrowing Keel Slug and Garden Slug.

Both pads and tape seem largely unappetising to other wildlife, making them an ecological improvement on the traditional pellets. However, the poisoned slugs are still a hazard and should be promptly collected and disposed of.

What do you want to do now?

• Slug pellets
  Before reaching for the pellets, find out more about the risks.
• Slug shelters and refuges
  Discover the places where slugs love to hide... then go and collect them.